Stalcup Powers the Murphy Offense with Four Touchdowns

By Brandon Stephens

(Cherokee) – – The Murphy (7-3, 3-2) is rolling into the playoffs with a 35-to-12 conference win over the Cherokee Braves (5-5, 1-4) at Ray Kinsland Stadium Friday night (October 27). The Bulldogs were powered by the rush and pass reception skill of Senior Running Back Hunter Stalcup.  Stalcup did not waste any time in the game pulling down a pass play from Sophomore Quarterback Brady Grant on a 55-yard scheme to go to Touchdown Town.  Stalcup ended up with approximately 229 yards on the ground and 74 yards of pass receptions and four touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs.  The Rhinestone Cowboy netted more than 300 yards of all-purpose yards (Statistics calculated by Team FYN Sports and may vary after official count), which should put him around 1,750 for the season with 28 touchdowns to boot.  Murphy Freshman Cameron Clem added a verse with roughly 116 rushing yards and a touchdown to cap off the Bulldog’s scoring on the Braves.

The game was characterized with long possessions by the Cherokee Braves and well-planned passing.  The Murphy Bulldogs demonstrated their offensive efficiency to get up field and into the end zone with shorter possession series time.  It was the first time in three weeks for a game not to be cloaked with rain.  For the Bulldogs it was the first time playing on rubberized packed turf, which did not seem to make any impact on the game.

The Cherokee Braves greatest threat to the Murphy Bulldogs is the passing game made by utilizing Senior Quarterback Michael Driver and Sophomore Jack (Jack-Jack) Teesateskie to combine for 10 completions on 23 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.  Murphy stayed on its toes trying to cover the passes Junior Wide Receivers Shiloh Woodson and Elijah Lineberry.  Two tales can be told in Cherokee and Murphy this coming week are from this passing threat.  Cherokee has a good weapon with the pass and will have a good future base when Teesateskie, Woodson, and Lineberry go forward in the playoffs and return in 2024.  Murphy will see this threat again as it makes advances through the playoffs from teams in the foothills who live on the spread offense and photocopy these type of plays throughout their playbooks.

The Game

This game is highlighted with the opening Murphy possession at the 5 yard-line and a bobbled football that has some fans worried about its early beginnings.  The Bulldogs use a combination of rush and pass plays to move to the Murphy 45 yard-line.  Brady Grant hits Hunter Stalcup for the opening touchdown with a 55-yard pass play and Will Joyner nails the Point After Touchdown (PAT) field goal.  Cherokee working in its second possession, utilizes 16 plays to set up a Nathaniel Littlejohn field goal.  On the field goal, a flag is dropped for illegal procedure and the Braves toss an incomplete pass to Elijah Lineberry.  This is Cherokee’s first turnover (on downs).

Murphy takes the football and rolls into the Second Quarter and goes on a similar 16 play series that sets up a Will Joyner field goal.  The 35-yard field goal attempt is no good and the Braves take over at the 20 yard-line.  The Braves fumble to the Bulldogs giving them a short field position.  After five plays the Bulldogs give the ball back, being unable to convert on fourth down and six yards to go from the Cherokee 33 yard-line.  This is Murphy’s first turnover.  The Braves level the playing field on this possession going 10 plays and 67 yards in 1:35 to score on a touchdown pass to Elijah Lineberry.  The Braves are unable to get extra points and end the First Half Murphy 7 Cherokee 6.

Murphy is fired up for the Third Quarter and goes 47 yards on 5 plays in 1:30 to send Cameron Clem to the end zone.  Will Joyner hits the PAT.  The Cherokee Braves burn about 2:00 of clock to eventually punt back to Murphy.  The Bulldogs are positioned on the 20 yard-line with 80 yards of real estate in front of them.  The initial part of this offensive drive looks like it may end in a punt situation.  That idea it done away with when Stalcup rushes 21 yards and Clem for 55 yards to put the Bulldogs in goal line territory.  Stalcup will run his second touchdown with 5:23 left in the quarter and Will Joyner parks the PAT.  Cherokee will drain the rest of the quarter alternating Senior Running Back Mato Grant on the rush and Shiloh Woodson on the pass to get to the Murphy 7 yard-line.  Grant carries the ball to the end zone 7 yards out and Cherokee does not get the extra points.  Murphy leads 21-to-12 over Cherokee and has the ball going into the Fourth Quarter.

The Bulldogs are in position to make the next series look like very little effort is needed to get to Touchdown Town.  Murphy uses 4 plays to go 76 yards in 39 seconds for its touchdown with Hunter Stalcup.  Will Joyner cuts the uprights for the fourth time before the Bulldogs kick off to the Braves.  The Braves nearly lose the ball on fumble, but the kick-off is made again by Murphy.  This series ends after another long possession on a turnover on downs for the Braves giving the football back to the Bulldogs at the Murphy 44.  Through the Second Half, Murphy has become more efficient with its offensive execution and wastes no time on the following possession.  Murphy goes 56 yards on 3 plays in 1:11 to end at the goal line for a one-yard touchdown run by Hunter Stalcup.  This will be the last touchdown of the game.  Cherokee has one more possession before punting to Murphy.  The Bulldogs melt 4:13 of play clock to end the game.  The final score is Murphy 35 Cherokee 12.

Next Game

At press time the next games for the Cherokee Braves and Murphy Bulldogs are unknown.  The North Carolina High School Athletic Association will determine the playoff brackets over the weekend and publish its 1-A brackets at https://www.nchsaa.org/ once all scores are reported and decision are made.  Stay connected to Team FYN Sports for details on the 1-A playoff pairings and analysis of all Smoky Mountain Conference teams and their games.

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